Wednesday, November 21, 2018

08:30 Lois and I get up and take a shower. Afterwards, when Lois is sitting drying her hair on her side of the bed, and I am sitting on my side for the bed, I unfortunately strain my lower back: I lie down backwards flat on my back to talk to Lois and then raise myself again carelessly without leaning on my elbow, which is foolish.

As a result, I have a pain in my lower back for the rest of the day, which is a bit of a shame, to put it mildly - damn it! Also Lois now has pain in her shoulders in addition to the upper back - good grief, we're just a couple of old wrecks, that's for sure ! But fortunately all 3 problems (her back and shoulders, my back) ease later in the day slightly, thank goodness.

Many people in our neighbourhood suffer from back pain in fact. A local man in his 60's, Joel Braley, hit the headlines 2 years ago after sources noticed him wincing and letting out low groans every time he stood up, according to the influential news site, Onion News. The sources confirmed that Joe's back was recently bothering him after a bad night's sleep and 58 consecutive years of terrible posture.

"Oh God, my back's killing me," said the man, who had tossed and turned all night and spent most of the previous six decades hunched over a desk, a computer keyboard, or, more recently, a phone.

"I suppose I must have slept on it awkwardly [and have never figured out how to stand upright without slouching or leaning against a stationary object]. Christ, I really did a number on it last night [and every previous day for almost 60 years]. Ow. "

Sources later confirmed that Braley was going to try to relieve his backache by lying on his couch and keeping stationary for the rest of the evening as well as most of the remaining 16 years of his life.

And Lois and I recall that for a long time we have not seen Braley at all, slouching round the neighbourhood. But he has another 14 years before he dies, so maybe we do not have to worry too much or send him a get well card until later on, which suits us just fine - we are very busy at the moment, I have to say!

10:00 I get started on re-reading Chapters 22 and 23 of Njal's saga written in Iceland in the 12th century or thereabouts. Scilla's U3A Old Norse Group is holding its regular meeting this afternoon at 2 pm in the bar of the town's Everyman Theater, and Njal's saga is the group's current project.

11:15 Margaret W. rings at the door. She has come to pick up Lois. They have planned to meet with their girlfriends June and Gillian and have lunch at a local pub restaurant, the Hatherley Inn.

11:45 I hurry into the kitchen and make myself a serving of lunch : corn beef, boiled potatoes, baked beans, and tomatoes, with chocolate biscuits for dessert - yum yum! Afterwards I go to bed and take a huge afternoon nap.

13:30 I get up and take the bus into town. I get off by the Marks & Spencer department store, and walk on to the town's Everyman theatre. I swing by the theatre's cafe and meet up with Scilla and Kath. There will only be 3 of us - because Margaret L. cannot attend today's meeting. Her fence fell down recently during a storm and it is being repaired today.

We walk up the stairs to the bar and start our meeting. Over the next 2 hours, we manage to read all of Chapters 22 and 23 of Njal's saga and translate them into English.

Unna, a nice Icelandic girl, gets divorced from Hrut, her (ex) man, after he fails to consummate their marriage - Hrut is overly well-endowed, while Unna is "just average", or so she says at any rate.

Afterwards, Unna successfully sues Hrut for reimbursement of her dowry, which is very handy because Unna is one woman chronically short of cash.

The divorce and the subsequent litigation are now over, and Hrut is free to scare other women, and Unna is free to marry a more "average" husband (Valgard) and have children, which she does (a son, called Mord).

A heartwarming story, with a happy ending and handshakes all round.

Unnas 2nd wedding reception, this time with Valgard,

which goes much better than the first one, to put it mildly!

15:30 I chat a little with Scilla and Kath about Iceland's impact on world history, which is often overlooked in my opinion. I tell them about an interesting email I've received from Steve, my American brother in law, referring to an article about the "worst year in the history of the world" - A.D. 536. And the cause of this catastrophic year can be found in Iceland, according to the medieval historian, Michael McCormick.

At a Harvard workshop this month, researchers reported that a disastrous volcanic eruption in Iceland spread ash over the entire northern hemisphere in 536. Two other massive outbreaks followed in 540 and 547. The evidence for these disasters comes from an ultra-precise analysis of ice from a Swiss glacier. My god, what a crazy world we live in !!!!

The repeated disasters, followed by plague, sent Europe spinning into an economic stagnation which lasted until A.D. 640.

And a mysterious fog plunged Europe, the Middle East and parts of Asia into the dark, day and night - for 18 months. "For the sun gave forth its light without brightness, like the moon, all year," wrote the Byzantine historian Procopius. Low temperatures in the summer of 536 kicked off the coldest decade in the past 2300 years. Snow fell that summer in China; crops failed, people starved. The Irish chronicles record "a shortage of bread".

Then in 541 Bubonic plague hit the Roman port of Pelusium in Egypt. What was called Justinian's Plague spread quickly and eradicated one-third to half of the population in the eastern Roman Empire and hastened its collapse, says McCormick.

Scilla and Kath are a little shocked to hear the scale of these disasters, I have to say. And we all agree that we are very glad not to have been living in that period. We conclude that it is far better if disasters take place at intervals, perhaps a Bubonic plague one year and economic stagnation a few years later, or something along those lines (or vice versa).

16:00 The meeting ends and I take the bus home again. I'm exhausted, as always at the end of our Old Norse meetings. It's hard work - if only the meetings could be a bit shorter! An hour and a half would be quite enough in my opinion. But I'm in a minority of one on this issue, which is a bit of a shame.

Lois has already come back from her lunch with her 3 girlfriends. We relax with a cup of tea and afterwards I pour myself a strong gin and tonic. I really need it tonight - that's for sure!

18:30 We have a light dinner and spend the rest of the evening watching television. The 3rd episode of a special series of "Grand Designs" is on, focusing on RIBA's (Royal Institute of British Architects) competition to find "the house of the year". The host of the program is the charming Kevin McCloud.

Tonight we see another 5 houses in the competition - there are approx. 20 houses taking part and at the end of the series we will see the judges choose the winning house from a shortlist of approx. 7.

The five houses in tonight's episode can be categorised as "extreme houses", in Kevin's words. There is a fun film sequence in one house where Kevin, the programme's charming host, walks along a long corridor in search of a toilet, a corridor where all the doors have been camouflaged - and installed without door handles. My god, sheer lunacy !!

Kevin, the program's charming host has trouble finding the toilet.

My god, sheer lunacy !!!!

The houses one sees on Grand Designs are just not practical at all, that's the bottom line. But problems such as the difficulties of cleaning are never mentioned.

Another house is built of a bunch of round concrete drums, so there are only limited possibilities for cabinets, shelves, etc. No-one has expressed a desire to buy it, but there are tenants living there currently. However they had to throw away 80% of their belongings in order to move in. Good grief, how crazy !!!

Good grief - what lunacy !!!

22:00 We are just going to bed when Lois drops a bombshell - something she forgot to tell me about earlier. When her friend Margaret picked her up this morning, they noticed a big crack "in the side of the house and in the garage". My God!

I am very shocked. We throw on our winter coats and go out into the front yard. But we find that the crack is actually in the low-rise stone parapet that is located on the top of the garage's door frame.

We are going to investigate the issue further tomorrow. I hope that the problem will not prevent us from opening and closing the garage door, that's for sure. The garage holds our gas and electricity meters, not to mention lots of children's equipment and car tools, etc. which our daughter Sarah left behind, when she, Francis and their little twins moved to Australia 3 years ago. Yikes !!!!

22:15 We go to bed - zzzzzzzz !!!!

Danish translation

08:30 Lois og jeg står op og tager et brusebad. Bagefter da Lois sidder og tørrer håret på sin side at sengen, og jeg sidder på min side, forstrækker jeg desværre lænden: jeg lægger mig bagover fladt på ryggen for at tale med Lois og rejser mig uforsigtigt uden at læne mig på albuen, hvilket er fjollet.

Dermed har jeg ondt i lænden i resten af dage, hvilket er lidt af en skam, for at sige mildt – pokkers! Og Lois har nu ondt i skuldrene udover den øvre ryg – du godeste, vi er bare et par gamle vrag, det er der ikke nogen tvivl om! Men heldigvis alle 3 problemer (hendes ryg og skuldre,min ryg) lindres i senere på dagen, gudskelov.

Mange folk i vores nabolag lider faktisk af rygsmerter. En lokal mand i 60’erne, Joel Braley ramte overskrifterne for 2 år siden efter kilder bemærkede ham krympe sig og udstøde lave støn hver gang han rejste sig op, ifølge den indflydelsesrige nyhedswebsted, Onion News. Kilderne bekræftede, at Joes  ryg for nylig virkelig generede ham efter en dårlig nats søvn og 58 sammenhængende år med frygtelig kropsholdning.

"Åh gud, min ryg dræber mig", sagde manden, der havde kastet og vendt sig hele natten og havde tilbragt de fleste af de foregående seks årtier krumboget over et skrivebord, computer tastatur eller for nylig  telefon.

"Jeg antager, at jeg må have sovet på det på en eller anden underlige måde  [og har aldrig i hele mit liv regnet ud, hvordan man står oprejst uden at daske eller læne sig mod en stationær genstand]. Kristus, jeg smadrede den virkelig i aftes [og hver forrige dag i snart 60 år]. Av.”

Kilder bekræftede senere, at Braley skulle forsøge at lindre rygsmerter ved at ligge på sin sofa og holde sig stille resten af aftenen samt de fleste af de resterende 16 år i hans liv.

Og Lois og jeg mindes, at vi i lang tid ikke har set Braley daske rundt om nabolaget. Men han har endnu 14 år, før han dør, så måske behøver vi ikke bekymre os for meget eller sende ham en forbedringskort indtil senere, hvilket passer os godt – vi har meget travlt for tiden, det må jeg nok sige!

10:00 Jeg går i gang med at genlæse kapitler 22 og 23 af Njals saga, der blev skrevet i Island i det 12. århundrede eller deromkring. Scillas U3A oldnordiske gruppe holder dens regelmæssige møde i eftermiddag kl 14 på baren af byens Everyman-teater, og Njals saga er gruppens nuværende projekt.

11:15 Margaret W. ringer på døren. Hun er kommet for at hente Lois. De har planlagt at mødes med deres veninder June og Gillian og spise frokost på en lokal pub-restaurant, Hatherley Inn.

11:45 Jeg skynder mig ind i køkkenet og laver en portion frokost: corn beef, kogte kartofler, baked beans, og tomater, med chokoladekiks til dessert – yum yum! Bagefter går jeg i seng og tager en gigantisk eftermiddagslur.

13:30 Jeg står op og tager bussen ind i byen. Jeg står af ved siden af Marks & Spencer stormagasinet, og går videre til byens Everyman-teater. Jeg smutter ind i teatrets café og mødes med Scilla og Kath. Vi er kun 3 - Margaret L. kan ikke deltage i dagens møde  – hendes hegn faldt over for nylig under en storm og bliver repareret i dag.

Vi går op ad trappen til baren og starter vores møde. I løbet af de næste 2 timer lykkes det os at læser kapitler 22 og 23 af Njals saga, og oversætte dem til engelsk.

Unna, en pæn islandske pige, bliver skilt fra Hrut, sin (eks-) mand, efter det mislykkes ham at fuldbyrde ægetskabet – Hrut er overdrevent veludrustet, lader det til, mens Unna er ”bare gennemsnitlig”, eller det siger hun i hvert fald.

Bagefter lykkes det Unna at sagsøge Hrut for tilbagebetalingen af medgiften, hvilket er meget praktisk, fordi Unna er konstant i bekneb for skillinger.

Skilsmissen og de efterfølgende retstrætter er nu slut, og det står Hrut frit for at forfærde andre kvinder, og det står Unna frit for at gifte sig med en mere ”gennemsnitlig” mand (Valgard) og få børn, hvilket hun gør (en søn, der hedder Mord).

En hjertevarmende historie, med en lykkelige slutning og håndtryk hele vejen rundt.

Unnas 2. bryllupsreception, denne gang med Valgard,

der gik meget bedre, end den første, for at sige mildt!

15:30 Jeg snakker lidt med Scilla og Kath om Islands indvirkning  på verdens historie, som ofte bliver overset efter min mening. Jeg fortæller dem om en interessant email jeg har fået fra Steve, min amerikanske svigerbror, som refererer til en artikel om det ”værste år i verdens historie” – 536. Og forårsagen til det kastrofale år kan findes i Island, ifølge den middelalderlige historiker, Michael McCormick.

På et værksted i Harvard i denne måned rapporterede forskere, at en katastrofal vulkanudbrud på Island spredte aske på hele den nordlige halvkugle i 536. To andre massive udbrud fulgte i 540 og 547. Beviserne på disse katastrofer kommer fra en ultra-præcis analyse af is fra en schweizisk gletscher. Du godeste, sikke en skør verden vi lever i !!!!

De gentagne katastrofer, efterfulgt af pest, styrtede Europa i økonomisk stagnation, der varede indtil 640.

En mystisk tåge kastede Europa, Mellemøsten og dele af Asien i mørke, dag og nat - i 18 måneder. "For solen gav sit lys uden lysstyrke, som månen hele året", skrev den byzantinske historiker Procopius. Temperaturerne i sommeren 536 begyndte det koldeste årti i de seneste 2300 år. Sne faldt den sommer i Kina; afgrøder mislykkedes, folk sultede. De irske kronikker rekord "en mangel på brød fra årene 536-539."

Derefter ramte buboniske pest i 541 den romerske havn Pelusium i Egypten. Hvad der blev kaldt justinianens pest spredte sig hurtigt og udrydde en tredjedel til halvdelen af befolkningen i det østlige romerske imperium og forhastede dets sammenbrud, siger middelalderlig historiker Michael McCormick.

Scilla og Kath bliver lidt chokeret af omfanget af katastroferne, det må jeg nok sige. Og vi er alle tre enige om, at vi er glade for ikke at have levet i den der periode. Vi kommer til den konklusion, at det er langt bedre, hvis katastrofer foregår med mellemrum, måske en bubonisk pest ét år og økonomisk stagnation et par år senere, eller noget i samme dur.

16:00 Mødet slutter og jeg tager bussen hjem igen. Jeg er udmattet, som altid ved slutning af vores oldnordiske møder. Det er hårdt arbejde – hvis bare møderne kunne være lidt kortere! En time og en halv ville være helt tilstrækkeligt efter min mening. Men jeg er i et mindretal af en om dette spørgsmål, hvilket er lidt af en skam.

                                                                   

Lois er allerede kommet tilbage fra sin frokost med sine 3 veninder. Vi slapper af med en kop te og bagefter skænker jeg mig en stærk gin og tonic. Det trænger jeg til, ingen tvivl om det.

18:30 Vi spiser en let aftensmad og bruger resten af aftenen på at se lidt fjernsyn. De viser det 3. afsnit af en speciel serie af ”Grand Designs”, der fokuserer på RIBAs (Royal Institute of British Architects) konkurrence for at finde ”årets hus”. Programmets vært er den charmerende Kevin McCloud.

I aften ser vi endnu 5 huse i konkurrencen – der har været ca. 20 huse der deltog, og ved slutningen af serien skal vi se dommerne vælge det vindende hus ud af en kortliste af ca. 7 .

De fem huse i aftenens afsnit kan kategorises som ”ekstreme huse”, ifølge Kevins ord. Der er en morsom filmsekvens i det ene hus, hvor Kevin, programmets charmerende vært, går langs en lang korridor på jagt efter et toilet, en korridor hvor alle de døre er blevet camoufleret – og installeret uden dørhåndtag. Du godeste, sikke et vanvid!!

Kevin, programmets charmerende vært har svært med at finde toilettet.

Du godeste, sikke et vanvid!!!!

De huse, man ser på Grand Designs er overhovedet ikke praktiske, er bundelinjen. Men problemerne såsom vanskelighed af rengøringen bliver aldrig nævnet.

Et andet hus er bygget af en flok af runde konkret-trommer, så der er begrænsede muligheder for skabe, hylder osv. Ingen har udtrykt ønske om at købe det, men der er lejere, der bor der for tiden. Men de blev nødt til at smide væk 80% af deres ejendele for at kunne flytte ind. Du godeste, sikke et vanvid!!!

Du godeste - sikke et vanvid!!!

22:00 Vi er ved at gå i seng, da Lois slår en bombeskal – noget, hun glemte at fortælle mig om tidligere. Da hendes veninde Margaret hentede hende i morges, bemærkede de en stor revne ”i siden af huset og i garagen”. Du godeste!

Jeg bliver meget chokeret. Vi smutter vinterfrakker på og går ud i forhaven. Men vi opdager at revnen faktisk er i den lave stenrækværk der ligger ovenpå garagens dørkarm.

Vi skal undersøge problemet videre i morgen. Jeg håber på, at problemet ikke vil forhindre os i at åbne og lukke garagedøren, det har vi ikke nogen tvivl om. Garagen indeholder vores gas- og elmålere, for ikke at nævne masser af børneudstyr og bilredskaber osv, som vores datter Sarah efterlod hos os, da hun, Francis og deres små tvillinger for 3 år siden flyttede til Australien. Yikes!!!!

22:15 Vi går i seng – zzzzzzzz!!!!